Hamsters, and Penguins, and Zoos? Oh, my!

The American Library Association (ALA) comes out with their top ten banned books every year. Since this is a library association, they're a little slow to come out with their 2009 list. But we'll continue looking at banned books and censorship--here with the 2008 ALA list of Top Ten Banned Books.

A quick glance at the list shows the most common reason for banning the books is "unsuited to age group." That's a pretty fast and loose reason if you ask me. Anything can be "unsuited to age group" depending on the circumstance. Take, for example, our love of romance novels on this blog. "Harlequin Blaze" is an imprint of the Harlequin novel--self-described as "stories...so full of scorching hot passion, you're liable to singe your fingers just turning the pages." And guess what? There's a 50/50 shot your grandma is reading it, and last I checked such books weren't "suited" to your grandma's age group. Just saying. Maybe the reason grandma is knitting potholders all the time in her knitting circles is so she can handle her Harlequin Blaze books.

Among the books listed on the ALA 2008 list are two books for children:

8.) Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannan.

From the Amazon. com description:

"When her favorite uncle, Bobby, announces that he is getting married to his boyfriend, Jamie, Chloe worries that he won’t have time for her anymore. The characters are all guinea pigs in human dress..."

I think it's easy to see what caused this book to be banned. I've always said the biggest threat facing modern America is guinea pigs wearing human clothes. Finally, people are cracking down on this, and not a moment too soon. What's next? Ferrets wearing sundresses? Hamsters wearing practical pantsuits?

1.) And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

This book has been the most banned book for three years running. Based on the true story of two male penguins who paired together in New York City's Central Park Zoo, the book recounts how zoo keepers gave the two males an egg by another couple. The egg would hatch, and that chick would be named Tango.

The real-life story occurred when two penguins named Roy and Silo found the penguin dating scene a little thin in the zoo, so they hooked up on a platonic level and created their own sort of bachelor pad. Being in such close quarters, romance was bound to happen. In time, Roy and Silo decided to try dating casually, before things started heating up. According to zookeepers, the duo eventually tried hatching a rock together. Admittedly, sex education is lacking at the zoo. But who hasn't had that awkward sex stage at some point?

After being given an egg to hatch together, Roy and Silo brought Tango, their daughter, into their lives. Raising Tango to maturity, Tango would eventually mate up with a male, Tanuzi, and live happily ever after.

But the white-hot media spotlight on Roy and Silo doomed their romance. First, they were evicted from their nest by other aggressive penguins. The penguins didn't say anything to the media, but I'm just putting it out there that their landlord was homophobic. Soon, Silo was seeing women on the side, especially a morally loose female penguin from California named Scrappy. Meanwhile, Roy was last seen alone, single, and staring at a wall. (Yes, that link goes to a New York Times article.) The lust between Silo and Scrappy was short-lived, as the California minx was off seeing other penguins, stepping out on Silo before they got too serious. Alas, Roy and Silo could never rekindle their romance. Roy could never trust Silo for his philandering ways.

Greatest story ever told??

Greatest story ever told.